no chance in hell OTT is trading a 26 YO chabot for a 34 yo EK. and no chance OTT take graves contract, OTTT declines

that dont get DAL chych

branny is a 3rd pairing guy

Aside from all the trade nonsense, Noesen isn’t going to consider signing that. Bare minimum would be 2mil, probably closer to 3, unless he decides to take a discount to stay with a contender.

I think there's a bunch of reasons why this doesn't work for me.

First off, I don't think you want Sanderson with Karl. It sounds great in theory, but in my opinion, if Sandy is out there, you want the puck on his stick as much as possible, and the same is true of Karlsson. Zub is such a natural compliment for Sanderson, I think any blueline adjustments start by understanding that this pairing is the only thing that works. Don't mess with it. Keeping those two together, I really don't see a combination that works with Karlsson. No coach in the league is putting the Eriks together for any length of time, and Graves-Karlsson already isn't great for Pittsburgh.

If you're keeping Brannstrom, you want to keep him in that same role. He's really good as the 3LD. If you're adding Karlsson to the mix, you want to bring in someone to be that Philips/Kuba/Methot type who really brings the best out of him. If you could add Jamie Oleksiak and Karlsson, then I'd be comfortable moving Chabot and Chychrun. Then you look for a 3rd pair guy to play with Brannstrom. Guys like Chatfield or Desharnais would fit in nicely with him imo, and probably fit the price point better than DeMelo.

The one sticking point that I've gone back and forth on all season is what to do with Chabot. He's a great hockey player, even if he's far from a perfect one. He has stretches like his last 15 games or so where he genuinely makes his contract look like a bargain, but he's also got warts in his game, particularly away from the puck. I also have serious concerns if he's ever gonna be healthy enough to be a guy you can rely on in the post season.

Also the Graves deal is just... bad. Definitely not touching it.

I think if there's the right deal to bring Karlsson here, and the right deal to bring in a great fit to be his partner, then you seriously consider making it happen and moving Chychrun and Chabot to make it work, and keep Branny as the 3LD. I think by far the more reasonable turn of events is Chychrun gets moved, Chabby stays, they go out and get the right guy to be Chabot's partner, and then address the 3rd pair. I kind of think Brannstrom is gone and they look to add size to the 3rd pair.

He’s a 31-year old playing on a league minimum contract. We’re not talking about Sebastian Aho here. $3 mil - I hope he gets that in Carolina. But thanks for reinforcing that Canes fans are the most delusional on CF when it comes to players’ value.

My concern for Branny is that he’s undersized for a 3rd pairing dman. I’m really curious if he could evolve into a Torey Krug type guy in a more prominent role.

I actually don’t think Karlsson makes a lot of sense for us at this point, but the emotional and nostalgic pull certainly appeals to me. I want Staios to overpay if necessary to get some big, strong defensive dmen next year.

Brassard is retired

Noesen will easily make more than 1.0 AAV

Why not just trade Chychrun if you can sign DeMelo?

Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - DeMelo
Brannstrom - JBD

Now that's a solid defense.


Bourque + 1st would be a PIPE dream, no way they get as much for Chychrun

He's undersized, but incredibly effective in his minutes, especially defensively. If anything, I think his size would be more of a concern in the top 4. He doesn't need to be Torey Krug, and he doesn't need to be a top 4 Dman. He is what he is, and he's very effective in his role. Personally I don't think Ottawa moves him and ends up better for it. There aren't many 3rd pairing LD available this summer who are better than him, but it's just one of those things where it feels inevitable that he will be moved.

I was wondering if Brassard is officially retired or if he needed the year to rehab. He was in incredible mentor and knew his role last year. I would love some vet leadership in the bottom 4.

I definitely like your suggested d-core better than mine, but I’ve seen this or a similar iteration many times on ACGM. So I decided to do something a little different for this ACGM. IMO, overpay on two solid defensive dmen, trade Chych for assets, and we’re good to go.

a top 4 dman that is only 25 is worth a hole lot more than a late first and a meh prospect

Chychrun is a rental. Rentals don't fetch more

Boston would accept, however Ullmark is not waiving for Ottawa.

Sens need WAY better than JBD as a regular. He's not an every day player on a good hockey team. This will be a hot take to a lot of Sens fans, but most playoff teams have at least 7 D better than him.

Devils could do far better than Forsberg in UFA alone, even if it just a 7th.

I would do Chychrun for Bourque and a 1st without thinking twice lmao

Mavrik Bourque is not a meh prospect. By the way, he leads the AHL scoring by 12 points and just turned 22 y/o


He's decent IMO when he has a relatively easy role. Him and Guenette as 6th/7th and I'm fine if our Top-5 (need to get a similar guy as Zub) is :

Sanderson - Chabot - Zub - Zub - Brannstrom (then Kleven)